Mass Effect: Aftermath
by Acheron9548
Summary: It has been five years since the end of the Reaper War. Five years since Commander Shepard and the crew of the Normandy risked everything to unite the galaxy in a single effort to rid the Milky Way galaxy forever of the Reaper threat. Follow the story of three strangers in the universe as they uncover a sinister plot, and a new war begins...
1. Chapter 1

It has been five years since the end of the Reaper War. Five years since Commander Shepard and the crew of the Normandy risked everything to unite the galaxy in a single effort to rid the Milky Way galaxy forever of the Reaper threat. When the fighting finally stopped, and the dust settled, it appeared that Shepard had been successful in defeating the Reapers. In that time, races have rebuilt, new alliances have formed, and the reborn Milky Way is set to have brand new problems that it is not entirely prepared to fight…

Chapter 1

Oblivion

Module 407, or as some of the Quarian crew have come to call him "Oblivion", was a hulking Geth Prime who was currently marching through the hall towards the bridge. Some of the Quarians that passed him gave him a wide berth though unlike normally, this was from respect more than fear.

The crew of the _Zakra_ has been around Oblivion long enough to know that he meant no harm to them. The years of, and preceding the Reaper War, Geth had been widely feared. It started with the Morning War, a rebellion of the geth that forced Quarians off their home world and into a new life on the flotilla for hundreds of years. Seven years ago, a rogue Spectre named Saren and his Reaper ship Sovereign, with the Geth forces that followed the "Old Machines", wrecked havoc across the galaxy, ending with a large battle on the citadel, with Commander Shepard taking out Saren and the Normandy leading the assault on the Reaper. Details of Shepard's mission were fairly secretive, but after seven years and many auto biographies and interviews with those who surrounded Shepard, many stories of the famed Commander got out, forcing the Alliance and the Council to make Shepard a public hero. When the reaper war started two years later, more Geth once again, sided with the Reapers, though it seemed they only did so to survive against the Quarians who hunted them endlessly. Reports had been that it was ultimately Tali Zorah vas Normandy, an Admiral that accompanied Shepard, helped coerce peace between the two warring factions. Legion, the geth who followed Shepard, sacrificed himself in order to transfer his sentience to the other geth, making all of them sentient like organics. Oblivion, like other geth, was also sentient. Though he was sentient long before the rest of the geth became as such. By a few months in fact. How he became sentient without the "Legion Code", he doesn't know. All he remembers is waking up in a lab with destroyed equipment all around him. He does not recall anything, someone appeared to have wiped his memory storage. He knows he lived before, but try as he might, Oblivion could not remember a single part o his life before the experiment.

Deep in thought, he almost didn't notice a small Quarian girl run up to him, tapping him on his shin. Oblivion looked down on the tiny creature, who seemed to not care about how small she was compared to the hulking mass of metal and weapons. This particular Quarian youngster had a mission. A mission that the fearless and ruthless Geth mercenary could accomplish.

"Mr. Geth sir? Can you help me find my binkie?"

Oblivion's neck sparked a little. A bit of damage he received in a previous job that had yet to be fixed, greatly reduced his processing power and left some of his motor and verbal funtions to act up. Oblivion's head jerked a little with every stutter, with the sparking in his neck happening equally as periodically. "Apologies little Crea-a-a-a-tor." The Geth's head sparked a bit more. "What is this 'binkie' you speak of?"

The little girl held up a small hand drawn map with a thin line curving around multiple scribbled objects that ended with a small red "X". The map itself with all the scribbles made little to no sense to Oblivion, and was about to relay this to the little girl when she motioned with her hands while skipping away. "Come on," she exclaimed. "Let's go on an adventure to find my little Hanar!"

The Geth made an audible sound from his external speakers that sounded suspiciously like a sigh, and he started walking, his larger strides keeping up easily with the much smaller Quarian, as they made their way to finding the lost Hanar toy.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Grim

The turian mercenary sat on his couch in his living room. Before him on a small table was an assortment of gear laid out on a cleaning tarp, including a high caliber sniper rifle that lay mostly disassembled, a Predator pistol that still had some grease on it, and a small tablet over on the corner of the table. Grim reached over, picking up the tablet, and unlocking the tablet. While the tablet loaded on a dark screen, Grim caught movement in his tablet's reflection. This was confirmed by a nearly silent clacking sound of the pistol's slide, as it readied a round in the chamber. Grim gave a small smile as his body reacted instantly moving his head to the side and watched as a bullet flew past his face. Grim grabbed the pistol that was ready and loaded on the couch next to him, and in one flowing motion, spun around and shot his 10 year old son directly between the eyes.

"Ow!" his son, Greyson complained, as the dart that acted as a mock foam bullet bounced off his forehead and bounced a bit before disappearing under the sofa that Grim sat in. "How did you know I was there? I was sure I made no noise!"

Grim shook his head. "You were _almost_ silent. Remember, if you are sneaking up on someone, make sure there are no reflections that could give you away. If there are, move around them."

Grey squinted a bit as he looked around the room. He frowned. "I don't understand. I turned the mirror at a small angle where you wouldn't see me coming. I was sure I stayed out of the reflection. How did you-" Gray grew silent as his father waved his tablet a bit. "Screen went dark as it loaded. Saw it in there. However," he continued, as Grey groaned in mild defeat, "I will be honest in saying it was complete accident that I saw you coming. What really got you, was I heard you pulling the slider of the gun back. If you had that loaded and ready beforehand, I would have had less time to react, and would have less chance of getting away alive."

Grey sighed a little as he went searching for the bullet under the sofa, as Grim walked over to pick up his son's bullet from across the room. Both of them loaded the guns, and Grim handed his over to his son. Grey looked a bit confused, until his eyes fell on his father's equipment that was laid out on the table. The older turian watched his son's face fall. "You're going away again. On one of your jobs."

"Yes. I am." Grim said shortly.

Grim's son looked up at him with a hardened look on his face. "I want to come with you."

Grim shook his head. "Out of the question."

"I am ready. Let me go with you."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so, son. Let this go." Grim was starting to lose his temper slightly, hoping his son would catch on, and know when to drop the subject. He did not.

Greyson, also seeming a bit upset took a step forward. "That's not a good enough answer, Father. I've been working hard for five years to be able to come with you, and all I've done is sit and wait for you to come back! I am tired of waiting! I want to go with you!"

"NO," Grim roared, forcing even his hot-headed son to take a step back, "you will do as I say boy. What I do, my job, is dangerous. There is never a guarantee that I will return home, I have told you this! I kill people for a living. I take their lives away from them for money. It is not a path I wish for you, so no. I will not be taking you with me."

"Then why have you been training me if not to take me with you?" Grey asked, waving the two mock pistols in the air a bit before letting his arm fall to his side.

"I have been training how in order to defend yourself, and counter-attack if you ever need to." Grim said sternly.

"Then what was all that, the me sneaking up on you scenario. That wasn't self defense, that should have been murder!" Grey countered.

This made Grim pause a little. He had no intention of letting his son become a mercenary like him. It was a life his father had forced upon him at a young age. He even was able to leave the job and Omega behind. Found a nice turian girl, married her, and even had a son with her. When the Reaper War hit, he and his family had been on the Citadel and was for the most part, safe. He hadn't heard much about the Reapers, and figured they'd be a threat dealt with quickly and paid no mind to it. However, one day, the Citadel had been attacked by a faction he later found out was called Cerberus. They tore through the Citadel, massacring anyone they could find. He had been on his way back home, when he had been shot at by a few of them. After disarming one of them, and shooting the rest, he had raced home to find that his apartment had already been hit. He had raced inside to find his wife already dead. His son had been put in the false wall that the turian made to hide his mercenary gear, which kept him safe, though his son then knew what it was his father had been. After fleeing the Citadel, grim took them to Omega, where he hoped Aria would keep them safe. When he got to Omega, he only saw Cerberus ships, forcing Grim to track Aria back to the Citadel a month later. After pleading to Aria to protect his son, she had simply given him a choice. Help her retake Omega, and she would provide him a place to stay, as well as taking a few jobs for her in service. Grim had agreed, and he has spent the last few years tracking down her traitors, keeping the "peace" in Omega, and doing everything to keep his son safe. He has, since then, been training his son, so that he never had to worry about being safe again. Maybe, however, he had been instinctively been training the kid to be a mercenary. This bothered him a little, and he'd have to be careful in what he taught his son in the future, but as of right now, he needed his son to listen to him now. Grim took a deep breath before continuing.

"Grey, listen." he said, "Everything I have done is to protect you, even if that means I am not around to protect you anymore. These lessons I teach you, will be lessons that will keep you alive. I do not want you to become what I am right now. I want you to live a better life. Now, I have a job to do. Once I have completed the job, I will ask my boss if I have any more missions to do. If not, I will ask to leave so we don't have to live on Omega anymore. I'll take you somewhere better we can live."

Grey moved his head to the side, processing his father's words. It appeared that he had mostly accepted what Grim had told him. Tentatively he asked, "What about Illium? I heard it was really nice there!"

Grim laughed a little at that. "I said we'd live somewhere nice, not somewhere that will break your father's bank." Grim was secretly relieved to see that his son had dropped the issue, even if just for a little bit. Grey pouted a bit at his Father's words. "Tonya said the beaches there were really nice. I wanna go to the beach."

"I don't thinks so kid. Once we live somewhere else, I'll think about making enough to go visit there. How does that sound?" His son nodded. "Good. For now, I need you to go do the rest of your daily duties. I know for a fact you have not cleaned your room."

Sheepishly, Greyson pattered off, knowing better than to lie to his father saying that it was clean when it was indeed, anything but clean. Grim's mandibles clicked a little in slight exasperation. It was true, he didn't like living here anymore than his son did, but his debt was his to pay, and soon it should be up. Five years have come and gone, and now was the time to ask Aria for a way out. Normally, there was no way out with Aria. Only way out was death or risk being hunted by Aria's bounty hunters till the end of time. It was quite unheard of for people to leave Aria's service, but most deals made with her are huge, and required a huge debt. His was a chunky debt and he has about cleared it. The fun part would be getting her to cut it a few months short after he completed his next assignment, which he still has yet to receive.

Sitting back down in the sofa, he reached over to grab his oil rag to continue cleaning his sniper rifle. All he had left to do, was get ready for his next assignment.

 _2 hours later_

Grim jumped a little at the sudden sound of his omni-tool going off. He had been deep in concentration putting the last of his M98 Widow back together, and had not been expecting it to go off. Setting his stock on the table before him, he switched it for his omni-tool, slipping it on his arm as he left for his room, closing the sound muffling door behind him. He activated it to reveal a small hologram the purple skinned face of Aria T'Loak.

"Aria." Grim's mandibles twitched in surprise. Aria never talked to anyone directly, not even him. He knew Aria as long as he's been alive, and while he has spoken to her in person, he has always been received through his tablet for his missions, or an agent when something more urgent was needed.

"Grim. I have a mission for you." She spoke, her eyes watching Grim carefully.

"This is most unexpected. I didn't know we'd be speaking directly."

Aria waved her hand dismissively. "This was a bit time sensitive and needs to be handled with care."

Grim's eyebrow shot up, amused at the thought. Aria didn't really "handle with care" too well as she didn't really believe in subtlety.

"Alright. Then what is it you need me to do?"

"I have a target for you. A turian politician will be on the Citadel. I need you to follow him and take out his target. And take the info on the omni-tool." Grim narrowed his eyes. Aria had still been staring at him, watching his every move. Every reaction. Many people who have met with Aria, have sworn that she had mind reading powers. While the turian didn't quite believe those tales fully, he did feel as if Aria knew how to read people. The more time spent with that person, the easier it would be. Guessing she saw his subtle reaction, he waited for her to continue. This was a test of some kind, and it wasn't one he was going to walk blindly into if he didn't know all the rules.

His gamble paid off. After a few moments, Aria gave what seemed to Grim to be the slightest fraction of a smirk before it immediately disappeared off her face as if it was never there before proceeding.

"This is not a mission many would be able to accomplish. It is, shall we say, a mentally taxing mission. That is partially why I chose you. I'm sending you the details now."

Aria flicked her hand in what seemed to be empty space in front of her, though Grim was sure that a holo-terminal was present. A few seconds passed, and he swiped at Aria's face, moving her up his arm as he looked at the new message he received showing the details of his next target. He froze as he read through the target report. Now he understood why she was asking him specifically, and watching for his reaction. This was where he had to be careful in choosing the next words out of his mouth, especially since he had other motives in mind, which he was sure Aria already knew about.

"What's the payment for this...particular target?" Grim asked slowly, also attempting to read Aria's reaction, though admittedly, with much less success as Aria.

Aria inclined her head at him, "Fifty thousand for the target's information. Another twenty thousand for killing the target."

"Seventy thousand for a slash and grab?" the turian asked incredulously. He traded his stone still face for one of pure shock. No job that simple cost that much. "Aria, no disrespect, but from these details, no target costs that much. Unless there is something you're not...telling me..." Grim realized too late what was going on. Aria, gave a twisted smile, confirming his suspicion that Aria was purposefully holding information from him. "You know, I don't like doing jobs without knowing all the details." Grim said flatly. "Especially when the target cost that much credits to kill and grab some info off an omni-tool."

Aria nodded. "I know. It's why I still employ you. You get the job done well, and this time, I need the job done perfectly. You could say, your failure could mean the end of the world for you." Grim noticed a slight shift in her voice. Something seemed a bit off. He wanted nothing more than to investigate further, but this was Aria he was talking to. Even if she didn't outright kill him for mildly sassing her, Grim doubted she would tell him any further information. Grim sighed before he looked up into the face of Aria. "I'll do it. I would also like to ask a favor of you."

"You want to get out of my services early." Aria said. _This must have been the test all along,_ Grim thought to himself. He wasn't entirely surprised at this. Aria had a massive network strewn about the Old Traverse. No way would she miss something as easy to spot as his discontent with living on Omega. Now he had to tread carefully with his words.

"With your permission only. I've known you for too long to betray your trust now, especially since you reached out to help me nearly five years ago." he paused, though Aria simply inclined her head, motioning for him to continue. "My son is not content with the life style, and I am just simply getting a bit old for this." Grim finished. Aria gave a small laugh, though it didn't seem very genuine to the turian.

"Too old? You are not that far past your prime. If anything, some would say you've reached your peak performance in the field."

"Maybe not physically, no. Mentally, I am tired. Tired of the killing of people, tired of losing people to silly wars, and tired of seeing my disappointed son's face whenever I have to tell him I'm leaving him for a few days, especially when my job involves a task like _this."_ Grim waved the tablet, in the air a little to prove a bit of his point. Aria simply regarded him, slightly amused.

"Why Grim, I didn't know you felt like this," Aria said. "Unfortunately, that decision may be out of my hands, and I may need your services one last time after this." She paused, watching his face for a reaction. Grim gave a small sigh. He knew his odds would be small that he'd get away with it, but he figured he'd try anyway. "While you will still be working for me, the next mission will be… unique. It'll take you off planet for a little while. You may want to bring your son with you to that one, as the outcome of the mission will chose how long you are gone from Omega." once it is done, you'll be free to go." Grim's mandibles clicked a little in hope. "That is something we will talk to you about after the mission. Until then, you focus on this one. Clear?"

Grim bowed his head. "Of course, Aria. I will let you know when the job is done. Is there a timetable for this one?"

Aria nodded. "Partially. The target will reach Citadel space in about one standard week. My spies have told me they may be planning to see some concert midway through the next week. After the concert, there is no telling where they will go. Do this as discreetly as possible, though as long as the target is dead, and I have the data, I do not care who gets hit along the way." Grim nodded. "Understood."

With that, Aria's hologram disappeared, leaving Grim standing in the middle of the dark bedroom, the only illumination coming from the still lit tablet in his hand. Grim raised the tablet up to look at the files again, "Spirits," he breathed heavily, "Please forgive me for what I must do." With that, Grim turned, opened his bedroom door, the light mildly blinding him, and he walked over to his still partially assembled guns. He had a lot of work to do, and now was the time to start. Sitting cross legged, he continued assembling his M98, preparing himself for the mission to come.


End file.
